Tongue-support.



P. H. WEBBER.

TONGUE SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 16, 1913.

Patented June 16, 1914.

avwem coz F? H. WEBBEI? PHILIP H. WEBBER, OF I-IOOFESTON, ILLINOIS.

TONGUE-SUPPORT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 16, 1914.

Application filed. August 16, 1913. Serial No. 785,116.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, PHILIP I-I. IVEBBER, citizen of the United States, residing at Hoopeston, in the county of Vermilion and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tongue-Supports, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in tongue supports and more particularly to a; device of that character shown and described in my prior Patent Number 968,010, issued August 23, 1910, the primary object of the present invention being to greatly simplify the construction and at the same time increase the operating efficiency of my original invention.

The present lnvention has for another of its objects to provide an effective support for a hinged or pivoted vehicle tongue which will relieve the draft animals of its Weight and will permit of the tilting movement of the wagon body to an angle of approximately forty-five degrees so that its contents which is extremely strong and durable in its construction, highly efficient and reliable in operation and may be manufactured at comparatively small cost.

With the above and other objects in view as will become apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain constructions, combinations and arrangements of the parts that I shall hereinafter fully describe and claim.

For a full understanding of the invention,

reference is to be had to'the following de-.

scription and accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of the hounds of a vehicle frame illustrating the mounting of the tongue and the application of my invention thereto; Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrating the positions of the parts when the wagon body is tilted to dump the contents thereof; Fig. 3 is a detail plan view; Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3.

Referring in detail to the drawings, 5 designates the front axle of a wagon or other vehicle, and 6 indicates the forward ends of the hounds which are mounted upon said axle in the usual manner. Between the hounds 6 the arms 7 which are bolted or otherwise rigidly fixed to the rear end of the pole or tongue 8 are disposed. These arms are pivotally mounted upon a transverse bolt 9 which is fixed at its ends in the hounds 6.

A clip 10 is rigidly secured centrally to the axle bar 5 by means of the screws, bolts or analogous devices 11, and this clip is provided with a depending arm 12. The arm 12 is formed with an opening in which a bar 13 is loosely disposed. This bar is provided with a longitudinal slot 14 through which the guide bolt 15 extending across the opening in the arm 12 is disposed. The other end of the bar 13 is cylindrically formed and threaded as indicated at 16 to receive the adjustable lock nut 17. Between this nut and the arm 12, a heavy coil spring 18 is arranged upon the bar 13. The cylindrical portion 16 of the bar is also provided with interior screw threads to receive the threaded rod 19 upon which the lock nut 20 is engaged. This nut is adjustable into contact with the end of the cylindrical portion 16 of the bar 13. The outer end of the rod 19 is forked to receive the end of a rod 21, said latter rod being pivotally connected to the end of the rod 19 by means of the bolt 22. The other end of the rod 21 is pivotally mounted as at 23 in a bracket 24 fixed to the under side of the pole or tongue 8;

A stirrup 25 straddles the rod 21 at a point adjacent its connection with'therod 19, the upper ends of said stirrup being fixed to opposite sides of the tongue or pole 8. To the intermediate portion of the stirrup 25 below the rod 21, one. endof a rectangular bar 26 is secured, the other end of said bar being attached to the bracket 24 by means of one of the fastening bolts for said bracket. A set screw 27 is threaded in the lower end of the stirrup 25 and is adjustable therein so that the positions of the rods 19 and 21 withrespect to each other may be varied in the normal position of the tongue and thus determine the breaking point of the oint 22 in the tilting movement of the wagon body. The set screw 27 is held in its adjusted position by means of the lock nut 28. One end of a leaf spring 29 is fixed to the bracket 24, the free end of said spring being disposed between the arms of the stirrup 25 and bearing upon therod 21 to hold said rod against pivotal movement in the end of the rod 19.

Under normal conditions, when the wagon or other vehicle is traveling over a road, the

vehicle pole or tongue 8 is supported in a horizontal position, the expansive action of the spring 18 tending to force the bar forwardly and thus cause the rod 21 to exert an,upWard pressure against the under side of he tongue. Then it is desired to dump the contents of the wagon into an elevator or other receiver, the forward ends of the hounds 6 are elevated as shown in Fig, 2 when the rear open end of the wagon body is forced downwardly. In the rotation of the axle 5 to which the hounds are attached, the arm 12 of the clip 10 carries the bar 13 forwardly and upwardly, thus breaking the joint 22 when the connected ends of the rods 19 and 21 are disposed above a line connecting the bolts 15 and 23. When the joint is thus broken, the spring 18 overcomes the action of the leaf spring 29 and continues the upward movement of the rod 21 in the stirrup 25 until the same is disposed with relation to the tongue as shown in Fig. 2. It will thus be seen that the wagon body may be moved to its dumping position without strain upon the tongue or the supporting means therefor. When the wagon body is returned to its upright position upon the vehicle frame, the several parts of the supporting device automatically return to the positions shown in Fig. 1, to support the tongue in its normal position, without requiring the assistance of the driver.

From the foregoing, it is believed that the construction and several advantages of my improved tongue support will be clearly and fully understood.

It will be appreciated that I have materially simplified the construction of my original invention shown in the patent above referred to without sacrificing the operating efliciency thereof.

The invention may be very easily and quickly applied to dumping wagon now in general use in the transportation of grain to farm elevators or other analogous purposes.

The device is also highly durable in its construction andv owing to the few parts employed, may be produced at small manufacturing cost.

While I have shown and described the preferred construction and arrangement of the several elements, it will be understood that the invention i susceptible of considerable modification therein without departing from the essential features or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. The combination with the vehicle hounds and supporting axle, a tongue pivotally mounted between the hounds, of a tongue support comprising two members pivotally connected to each other at one of their ends, the other end of said members being pivotally mounted upon the tongue and axle respectively, means arranged upon one of said members tending to force the same longitudinally toward the tongue, and means engaging the other member and yieldingly acting to prevent relative pivotal movement of said members.

2. The combination with the vehicle hounds and supporting axle therefor, a tongue pivotally mounted between the hounds, of supporting means for said tongue comprising two members pivotally connected together, a clip fixed to the axle, one of said members being loosely connected to said clip for longitudinal movement, the other of said members being pivotally connected to the tongue, a stirrup fixed to the tongue in which said latter member i vertically movable, and a spring on said first named member bearing against the clip and tending to force said members forwardly and longitudinally and cause the same to exert an upward pressure against the tongue.

3. The combination with the vehicle hounds and supporting axle, a tongue pivotally mounted between said hounds, a support for said tongue comprising two rods, one of said rods having an adjustable section, the other of said rods being pivotally connected to said section, the othe section of said first named rod being provided with a slot, a clip fixed to the axle having an arm to loosely receive said latter rod section, a bolt mounted in said arm and disposed through said slot, a spring mounted upon said latter rod section and tending to force said rods forwardly and upwardly to exert an upward pressure against the tongue, and means acting to yieldingly hold said rods against relative pivotal movement.

4-. The .combination with the vehicle bounds and the supporting axle, a tongue pivotally mounted between said hounds, of a support for said tongue consisting of two rods pivotally connected together, one of said rods being pivotally mounted upon the under side of the tongue, a clip fixed to the axle, the other of said rods being loosely mounted upon the clip for longitudinal movement with respect thereto, a spring mounted upon said latter rod tending to force the rods forwardly and upwardly, a stirrup fiXed to against said rod to yieldingly hold the ame the tongue and straddling said first named against pivotal movement with relation to 1' d adjacent its point of connection to the the other rod. latter rod, a protecting bar extending be- In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my 5 neath said rod and secured to the stirru at signature in the presence of two Witnesses. 15

'one of its ends, a set screw adjustable in v the stirrup for engagement With said rod, PHILIP and a leaf spring fixed at one end to the Witnesses: under side of the tongue and having its free CHARLES F. DYER, 10 end disposed in the stirrup and bearing. L. B. DYER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

